Should 13-Year-Old Girls Get the Pill?

There's a controversial move in the U.K. to supply the pill to girls as young as 13. How young is too young?

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How would you feel about your 13-year-old daughter being on the pill? With teen pregnancy at an all-time high, what effect do you think early access to birth control would have?

In the United Kingdom, 16-year-olds are already able to obtain birth control at pharmacies without a prescription from a general practitioner, and a new study suggests the age should be lowered still — to 13.

An experiment performed in Southwark and Lambeth, two inner-city areas of London, England, with the highest rates of teenage pregnancies, found that by lowering the age to 13, young sexually active teenagers who had never before used the pill made the choice to use birth control. Almost half the teens in the study — a full 46 percent — used the pill for the first time, thereby greatly decreasing their risk for unplanned pregnancies.

While some critics believe that teenagers are too young to have access to the pill, numerous studies have shown that access to sexual health care does not encourage teens to be sexual at an earlier age. Instead, it encourages them to make safer-sex decisions by empowering them with the information they need to protect themselves.

Unfortunately, though, the pill still carries certain taboos, and in the United States, there are several restrictions that can prevent access to prescriptions. Yet we know by now that denying teens access to birth control and safer-sex measures doesn’t prevent teen pregnancy or the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Giving teens the information on STI prevention and contraception that they need to protect themselves (along with real-life tips on the importance of waiting until one is ready and how to negotiate for condom use) is crucial, but that doesn’t mean you can’t couch sex education within your own moral or religious background. For example, you might say, “I don’t want you to have sex until you are [married, monogamous, much older, etc.], but if you are ever in that situation, I want you to know everything you need to protect yourself.”

Similarly, providing teens with access to birth control pills won’t hasten sexual activity. The reality is that many 13-year-olds are having sex, and they are often choosing to do so without using any contraception at all. This is why access to the pill is important for this age group. They might not have the awareness or the sophistication needed to negotiate for condom use, and some might not know how to use condoms. Not to mention, for many 13-year-olds, sex is often unplanned and completely spontaneous, meaning that if they don’t have condoms on hand, they might simply forgo contraception altogether. Even worse, for many young girls, first-time sex is often unwanted — 10 percent of teen girls say that their first time was coerced or even forced. Situations like these are always tragic, but if contraception isn’t used, it can be even more so.

The discussion of the birth control pill can also be used as a teachable moment between parents and teens. It can spark questions that parents might not have considered, and it can empower teens to make smart choices and plan ahead when considering their sexuality. It can get parents talking about the importance of waiting and how the first time should be special, meaningful, and safe.

It’s important that parents don’t allow their own discomfort with “the talk” to prevent teens from getting the information they need to protect themselves. Just like we give our teens information on the importance of not texting while driving and not drinking and driving, we have to prepare them for other real-life risks — such as those associated with sex. Teens want and need their parents’ guidance, we just have to give it to them.

Laura Berman, PhD is a leading sex and relationship educator and therapist, popular TV and radio host, New York Times best-selling author, and assistant clinical professor of ob-gyn and psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is the star of Couples in Crisis, on the Everyday Health Channel, every Thursday at 1pm EST.

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